The face of professional burn-out

I have written about burn-out many times over the years and I imagine I will return to it many more times as I continue to observe it occur with more people. A very long time ago, very much at the beginning of my extensive career in mental health, I used to be very cynical of term ‘burn-out.’

In fact, I actually thought it was comical. I could understand that people could get exhausted and very tired or worn out, but all you needed to do was get some rest and you would be fine. What was all this burn-out western hysteria my colleagues kept talking about? It didn’t take long for me to not only experience it vicariously through the very same colleagues, but as time went on, I saw it happen with friends and more recently I was face to face with it in a loved one. It is the ultimate melt down and it has many faces!

Aside from loving my career path and being very passionate about the work I do which keeps me interested and fulfilled, I also work very hard at looking after myself both psychologically and physically, and have learnt how to identify those warning signs unique to me that tell me when I need to pay more attention to my mental health, thereby helping me to avoid professional burn-out. I haven’t always got it right and have come perilously close to finding it difficult to cope with the particular strain of my work alongside everything else going on in my life. These moments were particularly useful in drawing attention to my limitations and fallibility.

The nature of my line of work as with most caring professions is that it can sometimes fool you into thinking you are omnipotent if you don’t keep your ego under check.

Burn-out is the gradual process by which a person detaches from work and potentially other meaningful relationships as a direct response to prolonged stress, physical, mental, emotional strain. What follows this includes: lowered productivity, a certain level of diminished return setting in regarding the work, feeling overwhelmed, confused and cynical about your work or life. It is a state of complete emotional and physical exhaustion caused by chronic anxiety and unrelenting stress.

I remember when I had what I consider my first brush with burn-out. I was working at an organisation in the UK called The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture; the name alone doesn’t leave much to the imagination. I was there for five years and drew huge personal and professional gratification from the work. I felt I was bringing significant, positive changes to my clients’ lives. I also had the opportunity to educate the host country and health providers, through conferences and workshops about the unique needs of my client group. I was proud of what I was doing. Notwithstanding, towards the later part of my time there, I gradually started to experience what in my trade is described as secondary or vicarious trauma. In other words, I was over identifying with my clients’ experiences and my own filters were ineffective so I was beginning to feel less empathy and experience direct pain. I found myself struggling not to break down in tears while listening to my clients tell their stories.

The reasons for my inability to maintain my professional boundaries at this time were two fold. I clearly was feeling overwhelmed personally and uncontained professionally. However, more importantly was the onset of the British government’s relentless racist immigration laws which were impacting negatively on their lives. Almost all the psychological healing that we had accomplished with our clients was being eroded by every new legislation that came out, and there were many. The clients were left frightened without housing, and other essential welfare needs. I constantly felt very angry and frustrated on their behalf.

I soon started dreading going to work as I felt I had betrayed my clients’ trust in me and for the most part I had knowledge about what fate would befall them. But I was not allowed to tell them, however I was still required to encourage and give them hope. I was left feeling fraudulent. I stayed awake unable to sleep at night worrying about them. I no longer felt exhilarated with my work and actually felt sick going to work. In the end, I had to make the painful decision to take stock and move on.

The feelings of burn-out are emotional, about not having motivation for what you are doing anymore. It’s about apathy, feeling hopeless and empty. This should not be confused with stress which could also lead to burn-out, but it is much more about physical symptoms. Having stress on the job might be as a result of having too much to do, or being hounded by a boss, being over-involved in the work place. Career burn-out on the other hand is about giving up, not caring anymore, a lack of desire, drive, motivation and feeling trapped. Work becomes meaningless and empty.

The causes for burn-out are several and varied, only you can figure out what applies to you as an individual and your particular work situation and personal life. Some of the more common causes are: feeling stuck in a job or career, being consumed by your job and taking it home with you, having to be everything to everyone in the work place and at home, being micro managed by your boss, having to work under duress with oppressive co-workers or management, having to continue in work that is no longer challenging, repetitive and boring.

Acknowledging the problem as with most problems is the first step to recovering and moving forward. If you haven’t got to the stage of burn-out yet thankfully, then building in steps and procedures into your life to prevent your reaching that place might be a good idea. Having said this, getting a handle on the problem may be easier said than done, nonetheless, it is not something that can be ignored. Sticking your head in the sand will only lead to a prolonged and more complex, painful process.

Contrary to what many people think, if you are unhappy in your job, regardless of what it is and how old you are, you still have some choices. Granted in today’s economic climate choices may be low on the ground. However, a useful thought to keep in mind is that if you fall ill due to stress or burn-out, all your choices are taken from you. So while you are still of relatively sound mind and body, you can at the very least start thinking of what else you can do and how to de-stress your present work situation.

Once you make a decision whatever it is, you will be amazed at the new vigour you will be infused with. This is not to say you may not experience fear of the unknown, but keep in mind that sometimes a little change is sufficient to give you the necessary incentive to make greater changes.

You can talk to your boss about what you feel may be some unfair duties you are expected to carry out, but first make sure you have earned the right to have this discussion; and pick your battles wisely. Being direct and forthright with a reasonable boss can be surprisingly very productive.

Build in new and interesting social activities into your life. Put more emphasis on your personal life, family and friends. Take up a new hobby and find more joy in and celebrate the non-working part of your life. By finding more satisfaction in your life generally, it puts work into perspective. Make a commitment to yourself in the main, not to take work home if at all possible, plan some form of vacation, no matter how low key. Simply going away to the village, Abuja, or another state within the country for a long weekend a few times a month can do the job. There are many wonderful, relatively inexpensive activities you can engage in at home if you are open minded, organised and plan ahead.

I am well known by my colleagues at work to be the one sharing humour with everyone or appreciating a glass half full rather than half empty. On my desk are flowers. I regularly burn aromatic oils in the office, and in between seeing clients I stop by colleague’s desks and enquire about their welfare. I have had many of them ask me why I seem to be smiling all the time and always have a joke or two to tell. My answer is that I like to create or be part of an atmosphere and environment I would like to be in. Besides, we all know we are always in danger of being on the receiving end of life’s great whip at any given time, so why not be joyful in the interim. It takes very little to do this, but its effects are far reaching.

Bringing joy to others lives is most satisfying, in a world where there is so much despair.

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